Man found beaten to death in Oakenshawe

Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

Baltimore City homicide detectives are investigating the beating death of a man found Tuesday afternoon inside a home in North Baltimore's Oakenshawe neighborhood.

Police said an acquaintance of the 50-year-old victim, whom detectives are not yet identifying, went to the victim's home, a rear basement apartment in the 300 block of Birkwood Place, after the man did not arrive at work.

"He didn't show up for work, and he always shows up for work," said Det. Angela Carter-Watson, a police spokeswoman.

The apartment had been ransacked, Carter-Watson said. The victim was found suffering from trauma to the head, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Oakenshawe neighborhood is just east of Union Memorial Hospital and the Johns Hopkins University. Most homes on the street have front-yard gardens; some have brightly colored painted steps.

"We're all a little bit in shock," said resident Kathy Henderson. "We consider ourselves a close-knit community here — it's one block long, one-way. We all sort of know each other, and it's a sad thing to have happened."

Mark Counselman, president of the Oakenshawe Improvement Association, said he believes the victim was someone whom the neighbors knew as somewhat eccentric.

"The sense of the neighborhood is that, it's unfortunate but an isolated incident," Counselman said.

Homicide detectives are asking anyone with information to call 410-396-2100.

In a separate incident Tuesday, police said a 15-year-old boy received nonfatal gunshot wounds in an incident in the Eastern District.

Police were called to the 300 block of Hoffman St. at Patterson Park, where they found the juvenile suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to his calf and another to his buttock. The victim was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Anyone with information was asked to call 410-396-2433.